Front-running Nicholls fends off ACU men

Nicholls State built a 14-point lead in the second half and held on to beat Abilene Christian 69-65 in a Southland Conference men’s basketball game Wednesday at Moody Coliseum.

Jahvaughn Powell and Roddy Peters both scored a game-high 18 points for the Colonels (15-9 overall, 9-2 Southland), who remained a half-game ahead of three other teams – New Orleans, Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana – for first place in the conference.

Peters, who had nine rebounds and seven assists, came off the bench to spark Nicholls, while Lafayette Rutledge also provided a spark off the bench, scoring 12 points – all on 4 of 12 shooting from 3-point range. Kimani Jackson rounded out the Colonels in double figures with 11 points.

ACU’s starters accounted for all but nine of the team’s points. Jaren Lewis led the Wildcats with 18 points and a game-high 20 rebounds. Jaylen Franklin had 17 points, followed by Tevin Foster with 11 and Jalone Friday with 10.

Nicholls hit 26 field goals, just one more than ACU with both teams taking 60 shots, but the Colonels hit 9 of 27 3-point goals – four each from Powell and Rutledge. ACU was 3 of 21 from 3-point range.

The Wildcats (14-11, 6-6), who have lost two straight games, dropped into sole possession of eighth place – a game back of both Lamar (15-10, 7-5) and Central Arkansas (13-12, 7-5).

McNeese (8-12, 5-5) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (8-13, 5-6) also are in the hunt for one of the eight spots in the conference tournament March 7-11 in Katy.